To be perfectly honest, the people chosen to be on the pathfinder team are people who should be the most suited for first contact. People who will stop and go "ok, but maybe hands up mean something very different in this culture" rather than decide that one little incident and the loss of one or two of their people is enough to condemn an entire alien species.

As I'm writing this I'm about halfway through the game, and while there will be Mass Effect Andromeda comics from here on out I will do my best to keep them spoiler free for a few months more.

While this first contact could have been an misunderstanding, sans the beating they give to the survivor of the crash, I'd say that the execution of another Survivor in front of you is a bit of an indicator is it not? Thankfully for Ryders, Male and Female depending on the player, the Initiative has already had more such hostile contact with them so Ryder cannot be reprimanded to harshly for it.

@NewWillinium: Sure, but Ryder doesn't know that humanity's already had run-ins with the keth. And really, judging the whole species for the actions of a few is... really an unsuitable mentality for the people deemed most suitable for first contact.

@Robert Archer: Agreed. I wanted to be able to be an absolute asshat, and stubbornly cling to a pacifist route. Alas...

@Sharp-Claw: I stubbornly refused to shoot first throughout the entire first planet... just in case...